9.27.2007

Weddings: A single girl's nirvana or nightmare? I'm undecided.

T minus three hours (almost exactly) until wedding chaos starts yet again. To set the stage here, I've been a bridesmaid twice in the past two months and inevitably, no matter how prepared the bride thinks she is, she never really...well...is. Things will get crazy. I just know it. So I'm mentally preparing myself now. And by that, I mean I'm getting my happy place all lined up (Something involving a bottle of red and my favorite comfy sweater. And a post-season berth for the Mariners...but that's another post altogether).

So as I prepare to attend my third rehearsal, which will lead into my third rehearsal dinner and, tomorrow, my third bridesmaid stint, which will lead into my fourth "Why did I have that last glass of wine?" reception (tricky...), I'm thinking about the pros and cons of being a single girl at a wedding. Of course, the biggest con that comes to mind is that horrible bouquet-toss tradition. It's like someone thought, "Hey, wouldn't it be great if we rounded up all of the single girls and made them gather in the middle of the dance floor like a heard of cattle for all to see? And look how they all scramble to catch that bouquet...they must all be really desperate to get married." Yeah... My strategy is to stand in the back and pretend like I'm looking the other way.

But seriously, I'm not all cynic. The thing I do love about weddings is the chance to meet new people. It's funny, I've been single for years and years and my friends have never once tried to hook me up with anyone. But in the past two months, I've been sneakily paired with the one single groomsmen in the bridal party twice now. Subtle? I think not. But actually, it's fun and exciting...much like a blind date. OK, I take that back. Blind dates suck. But this is like a blind date that I bring all my friends to, so if the guy totally sucks, I can ditch him and hang out with them. Hmm...wouldn't that be great?

I digress.

So anyway, tonight begins night one of what will pretty much turn into a two-night, blind-date-plus-all-my-friends with Mr. Groomsman. I'm kinda pumped. Maybe it will be a pleasant surprise...kinda like the skinny jeans. (Last time. I promise.)

Wish me luck!

9.26.2007

Let me explain myself...

Aaaand...post number two! At this rate, I'm fixin' to have a pretty legit blog here. And yet, I have no doubt that at some point I'll be totally over it. But until then...

Naming a blog is a hard thing. People have really, reeeeally creative names for their sites these days. So mine couldn't be anything drab like "Single in Seattle" or "The Single Life" or "Diary of a 20-something" or...am I boring you to sleep yet? No, I thought of the name for my blog while trying on jeans during my lunch hour. First of all, let me start by saying that, much like most (read: ALL) girls, I hate hate hate shopping for jeans. Or any pants for that matter. They either fit in the waist but not in the hips. Or they fit in the waist but they're too short. Or or or...I could go on. Anyway, I pull pretty much every style I can find in my size and head to the dressing room with an armful of jeans and a couple of sweaters I found along the way. The strategy: Try on the sweaters first. They're bound to be way more flattering, right? Um, no. Not today. It wasn't pleasant.

So after that debacle, I was about ready to give up on the jeans (in my current state, I didn't think I could take anymore "This is waaaay too tight" realizations) but figured that as long as I was there and already in the dressing room, I'd add insult to injury and continue with the jeans. About halfway through I realized I'd unknowingly grabbed a pair of skinny jeans. Here's how the angel/devil conversation went in my head:

Angel: "Skinny jeans? Yeah freakin' right. Not me."
Devil: "Oh just try them. How bad could they be?"
Angel: "Absolutely not. Skinny jeans only look good on those annoying size zero girls."
Devil: "C'mon. If nothing else, they'd be good to wear tucked into your slouch boots."
Angel: "I do love those boots..."

So I took the plunge. And, surprisingly, they weren't that bad. In fact (and I can't believe I'm about to say this) I kinda liked 'em. I wanted to buy them. Whodathought? Definitely not me. It was truly an unexpected pleasantry, hence the name of the blog.

So there you have it folks. Stay tuned for more experiences, discoveries and cool finds that are totally unexpected yet altogether pleasant...kinda like the skinny jeans.

Blogosphere? It's me, Katie.

My best friend recently told me I should start blogging. Hmmm...OK. I clearly succumb to peer pressure very easily. But there's one condition — I'm doing this anonymously. Yeah, yeah. I know. But that's the way it is. Like it or leave me.

So here I am, a 20-something stumbling through singledom and, subsequently, the loss of most of my single friends to that over-hyped phenomenon they call marriage. My plan is to use this space to write about the surprising pleasantries a single girl can find in a world full of couples. Well that and sports. And maybe some technology-related stuff. Either way, it's all about finding humor/happiness/amazement in the little things — it's kinda like the skinny jeans. But more on that later.....